Coated paper products

ABSTRACT

The process of coating a paper base with a hot melt coating composition which is comprised of at least 50 weight percent of a coating pigment or a mixture thereof dispersed in an undiluted, heat extrudable binder (e.g., a normally solid thermoplastic resin), said binder comprising less than 50 weight percent of the total weight of the coating composition. For example, a publication paper is prepared by coating an uncoated, prefinished, ground wood paper on both sides with a coating composition that comprises a normally solid ethylene polymer or copolymer and a clay pigment wherein the amount of pigment is greater than 50% by weight of said coating. The total coating weight (both sides) is less than 15 grams per square meter (gms/M2).

United States Patent Guastella et a1. Oct. 7, 1975 [54] COATED PAPER PRODUCTS 3,511,693 5/1970 Davidson ll7/l 11 X n 3,522,041 7/1970 Staley 96/l.8 [75] lmemom fi r zfy s fifi g' j 3,595,943 7/1971 Branson et a1. 260/897 B v e, Gorham, Maine OTHER PUBLICATIONS [73] Assignee: Blandin Paper Company, Grand Modern Plastics Encyclopedia, 1968, pp. 207, 208.

Rapids, Minn. [22] Filed: Sept. 14, 1972 Primary ExaminerMichael R. Lusignan Attorney, Agent, or FirmThomas M. Meshbesher 211 App]. No.: 289,013

Related US. Application Data [57] ABSTRACT [63] Continuation of Scr. No. 1,995, Jan. 12, 1970, Pat. The process of coating a pa er base with a hot melt No 3723169 whih'" t' uat' t fS p 6 T 3 3 2? 'l' 0 coating composition which is comprised of at least 50 one weight percent of a coating pigment or a mixture thereof dispersed in an undiluted, heat extrudable 152] US. Cl. 4422847515?44227;}3799.44227475212 binder (e g" a normally solid thermoplastic resin), Int Cl 2 B05D B32B B32B 27/10 said binder comprising less than 50 weight percent of [5 Fie'ld "Search 1 [7/68 1 l i H 155 UA the total weight of the coating composition. For exam- References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS SUPPLY UN WIND 6 EC T/ON ROLL PRESSURE R01. L. 6

FINISHING 6 E C T/ON 2 BA CK/NG PHssuRE ROLL ple, a publication paper is prepared by coating an uncoated, pre-finished, ground wood paper on both sides with a coating composition that comprises a normally solid ethylene polymer or copolymer and a clay pigment wherein the amount of pigment is greater than 50% by weight of said coating. The total coating weight (both sides) is less than 15 grams per square meter (gms/M 9 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure DRY COA TER WINDING HE E L SE C T/ON SECTION COATED PAPER PRODUCTS continuation-in-part of application Ser No. 866,766,: co-pending therewith, filed Oct. 15, 1969 and now abandoned, which describes and claims coating compositions useful in this invention.

Coating apparatus suitable for use in the present invention is disclosed in US. Pat. application Ser. No. 843,677, filed July 22, 1969, now us. Pat. No. 3,690,297.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common in the paper making industry to coat paper on one or. both sides with one or more coating compositions to thereby obtain various desired properties (e.g., good printing qualities, moisture resistance, etc.). One example is the manufacture of publication papers which are used in, for example, the preparation of magazines having a high paper quality. Illustrative prior art coating compositions-which can be used in the preparation of publication papers'are described in the following Unites States Patentszj.

US. Pat. No. 3,480,455 of Charles A. Richardson US. Pat. No. 3,157,533 of Clancy et al US. Pat. No. 3,002,844 of Reiling These prior art coating compositions are used to obtain, for example, opacity and brightness in publication papers. They are typically applied as liquid coating compositions using, for example, a trailing blade coater. Such liquid compositions contain substantial amounts of a diluent (e. g. hydrocarbon solvents or water) and require the use of heated rolls or other drying means to effectively remove the diluent from the wet coating tothereby produce dry coated paper. Such liquid compositions are referred to as solvent-based and water based coating compositions. The diluents used in such prior art coating compositions can cause the paper being coated to become distorted.

In addition to such liquid (e.g., water based) coating compositions, hot melt or heat extrudable coating compositions have also been used in some special applications to coat paper products. Examples include the production of: .water resistant coatings for corrugated paper and poultry shippers; heat scalable overwraps for pastries; and pressure sensitive labels (i.e. adhesive backed labels). Such hot melt systems are frequently used without pigmentation or with only minor pigmentation (ie less than pigmentation). Additionally, such hot melt systems are ordinarily applied to paper products for these special applications at high coating weights (e.g., above 25 grams of coating per side per" square meter of coated paper). Still further, some processes for applying these coatings are effective only at low paper speeds (e.g., below 35 lineal meters per minute).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The. present invention involves the discovery that useful. paper products can be prepared by a process which involves coating a paper base with-a hot melt coating system wherein the hot melt or heat extrudable coating composition is undiluted ('i.e., not solvent or water based) and contains as essential ingredients a heat extrudable binder (e.g., polyethylene) and a coating pigment (e.g. clay) wherein the amount of coating pigment is at least 50percent of the total weight of the hot melt coating composition.

We have found that by using these highly pigmented hot melt coating compositions in our process we can efficiently produce paper products of high quality. In

this respect, the process of this invention offers advantages over present commercial practices involving the use of solvent or water based coating systems (e.g., in our process no heat is required to volatilize the water or solvent). Additionally, it is possible with our process toproduce paper of good quality (e.g., publication paper) at lower coating weights than we previously found commercially practical when using solvent and water based coating compositions in conventional paper coating processes. Other advantages of our process ex- 1st.

THE DRAWING The single drawing is a flow diagram illustrating the present process as applied to a moving web.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The Coating Process In the broad sense, the process of the present invention involves the coating of a paper base (e.g., a high speed web of ground wood paper) with a highly pigmented hot melt coating composition. Such coating compositions are typically comprised of at least fifty weight percent of a coating pigment or a mixture thereof dispersed in an undiluted, heat extrudable binder (e.g., a normally solid thermoplastic resin), said binder comprising less than fifty weight percent of the total weight of the coating composition. Such coating compositions are more fully described following this description of the coating process.

The process can be applied to a variety of paper bases, all as hereinafter set forth. However, it is particularly well suited to the coating of a moving web of paper. Accordingly, the process is hereinafter described with reference to the coating of a'web of paper without intending to be limited thereby.

Referring now to the drawing, it can be seen that the apparatus used in the present process comprises an unwind section that includes a supply of paper 1 (e.g., a roll of paper). The paper web 2 is unwound from the paper supply 1 and moved in the'direction of the arrow to a finishing section. The use of a finishing section is optional, but preferred. The purpose of the finishing section is to impart a smooth surface to one or both sides of the paper web 2 to thereby increase the quality of the coated paper which is the final product of this process. In the finishing section, the moving web of paper 2 is pressed against a hard (e.g., chrome plated) backing roll 3 by pressure rolls 4 and 5. Small rolls 6,7,8,9,10a, l Ob, l l and 12 are used to control the tension on paper web 2 and to give the web directional orientation. From the finishing section, the paper web 2 is passed to'a dry coating section which comprises a rangement of coating head 14 and backing roll 13 as shown in the drawing causes a small pond of molten coating composition to be created in the trough formed by the rigid blade 15 of the coating head 14 and by moving paper web 2. The details of construction of an extrusion coating head particularly well suited for this purpose is described and claimed in our co-pending US. application, Ser. No. 843,677 filed July 22, 1969 (our case M&G-l05.3-SP).

The temperature of application of the hot melt coatings of this invention as measured in the coating head 14, will normally be within the range of 250500F. (i.e., about 120 260C.), usually within the range of 350-450F. (i.e., about 175 230C) However, the temperature of application will vary depending upon the particular end use of the paper products being manufactured and the type of coating composition which has been employed. For example, in preparing frozen food cartons it is possible to use coating compositions made from binders having substantially lower melting points or softening points than would be necessary for other inductrial applications where heat resistance of coated paper products is important. Usually, the coating composition will be melted before reaching the coating head 14.

Usually, rigid coating blade 15 will be pressed against the moving paper web 2 at pressures of up to kg. per lineal cm. of blade width (e.g. 1-8 Kg/cm.). The coater backing roll is preferably a steel roll covered with a resilient material such as Teflon or rubber (e.g. a one cm. layer of rubber having a hardness of 60 on the P & J scale). With such a combination of blade pressure and resilient backing roll, the blade will depress the surface of the backing roll along the line of contact.

The coating blade can be heated by use of heating elements in or around coating head 14. It can also be provided with its own heating elements. Molten coating compositon will also heat the blade 15.

As the paper web 2 passes the coating head 14, the hot coating composition will normally cool rapidly and solidify. However, the optional use of cooling roll 16 may sometimes be desirable or necessary to cool the coated paper to avoid stickiness and other problems during rewind.

From the coating section, the coated paper web 2 is then passed over roll 17 and rewound to form a roll of coated paper 18.

Although the process as shown in the drawing represents a preferred form of this invention, it will be appreciated that the process can be carried out by the use of other types of coating equipment and by other sequences of operation. For exmple, the coating compositions described herein can be applied to paper bases in curtain coaters. gravure coaters, and kiss roll coaters. The particular apparatus and technique that is selected for use in any particular instance will depend upon a consideration of many factors including the type of paper base to be coated, the coating composition to be applied, the desired coating weight, speed requirements, and the like. Selection of a suitable method of application under any given set of circumstances is within the skill of the art when aided by this disclosure.

It is possible to utilize the process of this invention on paper webs moving at lineal speeds as high as 1500 meters per minute, or higher. However, it will usually and preferably be applied to paper webs moving at lineal speeds of from ISO-1,000 lineal meaters per minute (e.g. 200-800 M/min.).

The amount of hot melt coating which is applied to a paper web will, under most circumstances, be sufficient to provide a coating weight of from 0.75 45 grams/M more usually from 3 3O grams/M However, as will be recognized by those skilled in the paper industry, higher or lower coating weights than those specified herein may sometimes be desired and can be obtained by use of the present process.

PAPER BASE All types of paper and paper board can be used in the practice of the present invention, although all such paper bases do not serve with equal effectiveness and some obvious process modifications are required to accomodate different paper bases (e.g., paper webs and paper board must be handled differently as known in the art; yet both can be coated according to this invention). The paper base can be made from any of the usual sources of cellulose such as wood, cotton, linen rags and the like. The paper base can be of the type commonly used for newsprint, publication papers, special inductrial papers, sanitary tissues, corrugated paper, paperboard liners, folding boxboard, cardboard, construction paper, building board, and the like.

The process is particularly well suited for use with moving webs (e.g. long ribbons of paper). Webs other than paper webs can be coated by the present process (e.g., Mylar).

Ground wood paper is particularly useful in the parctice of this invention. As known in the art, ground wood paper differs from other types of paper in that the former is prepared from a mechanical pulp which contains all of the wood constituents, while other papers are made from chemical pulp which is essentially pure cellulose with lignin and other non cellulosic components of the wood having been dissolved away during the pulping process.

Uncoated paper weighing less than 300 gms/M' preferably weighing less than gms/M desirably within the range of 3075 gms/M is particularly useful in the practice of our invention.

As known in the art, fillers, resins and coloring agents are frequently added to the paper pulp before forming the sheet or web. Typically, such additives are mixed with the pulp in the beater, in the Jordan, or in both.

Paper bases used in the practice of this invention can be uncoated or precoated. Normally, it is possible to obtain the desired end results (in terms of coated paper properties) without precoating or even without sizing and, as a consequence, we prefer to use uncoated paper bases in the paractice of our invention so that the resulting coated paper products have, as the only coating thereon, coatings provided in accordance with our invention.

Although top coats can be applied over our coating compositions (after they have hardened), we prefer to avoid the use of such coatings because of the added costs and coating weights which are involved.

We prefer that paper bases which are to be coated with our composition be prefinished or smoothed prior to the application of our hot melt coatings. Such prefinishing can be accomplished in, for example, gloss calenders, super calenders, etc.

THE HOT MELT COATING COMPOSITIONS The coating compositions of the present invention are compositions which are intended to be applied to the paper base while the coating compositions are hot (e.g. 250-450F.). These hot melt coating compositions are diluent-free, i.e. they do not contain substantial amounts of free water or volatilc hydrocarbon solvents as is normally common to highly pigmented coating compositions used in the paper industry. Of course, our compositions may contain small amounts of moisture (e.g., less than 1 percent by weight) but they are readily distinguishable from solvent based and water based coating compositions as known in the art. Moisture present as bound water (e.g., as water of hydration in common clay pigments) is considered to be part of the pigment and is not considered to be a diluent for our purposes.

The major or dominant ingredient in our hot melt coating compositions is a coating pigment or a mixture thereof. Suitable pigments include clay, titanium diox ide, zinc oxide, calcium carbonate, talc, hydrated amorphous silicas, hydrous sodium silicoaluminates, and the like. The particle size of such pigments can vary widely. It is convenient to use commercially available pigments which typically have a particle size distribution resulting in more than 50 percent by weight of the particles being smaller than 5 microns (equivalent spherical diameter as determined by settling techniques).

The second essential ingredient of our hot melt coating compositions is one or more binders or a mixture of binder forming ingredients, the total of which represents less than 50% by weight of the total weight of the hot melt coating compositions. The weight ratio of pigment to binder in these coating compositions will be greater than 1:1, typically greater than 1.5: l more usually above 2:1, and very often in the ratio of 3-8: 1. Although the binder can be any suitable thermo-setting or thermoplastic resin or resin system, we have found substantial advantages associated with the use of normally solid (i.e. solid at 70F.) thermoplastic binders (e.g. polyethylene). Thermoplasticbinders are easier to use, waste material can be recovered and reused, and the resulting coatings on paper can be softened and manipulated subsequent to the paper coating process.

Suitable binders include but are not limited to the following:

Cellulose acetate Cellulose acetate butyrate Cellulose triacetate Fluorinated ethylene Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene Acrylonitrile styrene copolyme'r Cellulose propionate Ethyl cellulose Polyamide Polycarbonate Polyethylene (low density) Polymethyl methacrylate Polyethylene (medium density) Polypropylene Polystyrene (casting, extrusion) Polytetrafiuoroethylene Polytrifluorochloroethylene Rubber hydrochloride Polyvinyl chloride (flexible) Vinylnitrile rubber Vinyl chloride-acetate copolymers (flexible) ous sorts (e.g., flow improvers, resin modifiers, plasticizers, dispersants, dyes, etc.). Typically, the total amount of all such additives will be less than 20 percent and ordinarily less than 10 percent of the total weight of the coating composition (the balance being binder and pigment, only).

The coating compositions of this invention can be prepared by simple mixing of the ingredients at room temperatures to form a dry mix or at a temperature above the melting point of the binder (e.g., above the melting point of polyethylene) to form a more homogeneous mixture of ingredients. It is convenient to perform the mixing below the melting point of the binder with a high shear intensive mixer (e.g., 8000 r.p.m.).

The present invention will be further understood by reference to the following specific examples which include a preferred embodiment. Unless otherwise indicated, all parts and percentages are by weight.

EXAMPLE 1 A hot melt coating composition was prepared from the following ingredients in the proportions indicated by simple mixing after first heating the mixture above the softening point of the polyethylene.

INGREDIENTS: WEIGHT (a) Coating pigments Clay (HT) 63 Titanium Dioxide (RASO) 7 (b) Binder Polyethylene with a melt index i of 250 and a density of 0.926

CNA 250) 20 Waxy low molecular weight polyethylene (Paraflint) 5 (c) Additives Flow improver (Wing Tack 5 The pigments provide opacity and brightness to coated paper products. The pigments are selected for their coating properties as well as for their compatibility or wetability in the presence of the melted binder, their effect on binder viscosity, and other normal considerations (e.g. cost).

In this example, a high melt index polyethylene was used as the principal binder. Its use is preferred. The waxy low molecular weight polyethylene contributes to producing a smooth coating on the finished paper product.

The flow improver used in this example reduces the temperature needed for melting the coating composition and reduces the viscosity of the coating composition.

This coating composition was applied to a 51 cm wide uncoated, unsized paper web (weighing about 42 gm/M having a speed of 230 M per minute. This paper was of the type used for the manufacture of fine quality magazines. The coating process was as shown in the drawings except that the finishing section (i.e., the gloss calender) was omitted. The temperature of application was 205-220C. (i.e., about 400425F) as measured at the point of application in the extrusion coating head. The pressure of the coating blade on the moving paper web was about 2.2 Kg./cm. The backing roll was a steel roll covered with rubber of a P&.] hardness of about 60. The cooling roll was operated at 22C. (i.e., about room or ambient temperature).

The resulting coated paper was a bright white product having an ink receptive coating of uniform thickness (about 4.5 gm/M of coating). Because the coating composition was diluent-free, no significant amount of water or other solvent contacted the paper and the paper did not become distorted as might have been the case if an aqueous coating solution had been employed.

EXAMPLES 2 4 These examples illustrate other coating compositions prepared according to the present invention.

The compositions of Examples 2-4 were each applied to separate, individual sheets of paper (weighing about 42 gms/M in a bench model laboratory coater to thereby provide coatings of from about 2.2 to 3.75 gms/M In this laboratory coater, the uncoated paper sheets were fastened to a rubber covered backing roll which was rotated past a heated rigid coating blade which was in pressure contact with the paper. The solid coating compositions were merely placed on the heated blade, melted, and permitted to form a pond of molten coating in the trough formed between the coating blade and the paper clad, rubber covered, backing roll.

EXAMPLE 5 This example illustrates the preparation of a lightweight publication paper by the coating process substantially as shown in the drawing. The finishing section was bypassed. because the paper to be coated was sufficiently smooth to begin with.

A highly finished, unsized, uncoated ground wood paper (approximately 45 grams/M was fed from an unwind stand around suitable tension rolls and then passed down and under a rubber covered backing roll and then on to re-wind apparatus. A hot melt extrusion coating head was positioned transverse of the rubber coated backing roll as shown in the drawing. The coating head was equipped with a stiff coating blade which in operation was in pressure contact with the paper web, thereby forcing the web against the rubber coated backing roll. The coating head was inclined downwardly from the horizontal so that molten coating being extruded from the lower end of the coating head was spread across the full width of the coating blade (confined at the end between deckles) thereby forming a small pond of molten coating composition in the trough defined by the downwardly moving paper web and the coating blade. As the web passed by the blade, all but a thin film of coating material was retained in the small pond above the blade. The coating composition was the composition of Example 3 and was applied at a temperature of about 2l0-215C. The coating set almost immediately upon passing the blade and no chill rolls were required. By adjusting the speed of the web (230700 M/min.) and adjusting the pressure on the coating blade (2.2-4.4 Kg/cm.) with a fixed extrusion gap (0.035 inch gap), it was possible to vary the coating weight in limited production over a relatively wide range (from'about 3.9 to 30 gms/M and it was possible to produce coated paper of good quality, even at low coating weights (e.g., below 4.5 gms/M The resulting coatings were adherent and were uniform, smooth films.

The reverse side of the paper can be coated by passing coated paper of Example 5 past a second coating station or by inverting the coated paper and sending it past the first coating station for a second time.

What is claimed is:

l. Coated paper that is ink-receptive and has good printing properties which comprises a paper web which has been extrusion coated with a rigid coating blade, on at least one side, with a molten hot melt coating composition, said molten hot melt coating composition consisting essentially of at least 50 percent by weight of a coating pigment or mixture of coating pigments dispersed in a diluent-free, heat extrudable binder or mixture, of binders, said heat extrudable binder having an 'ASTM melt index of about 30-400, said molten hot melt coating composition having a total coating weight of 3-15 grams per square meter of said paper web.

2. Coated paper of claim 1 in which said pigment is selected from the group consisting of clay and titanium dioxide.

3. Coated paper of claim 2 wherein said binder comprises a normally solid polymer or copolymer of ethylene.

4. Coated paper of claim 3 in which both sides of the paper have been coated with said coating composition.

5. Coated paper of claim 1 wherein said pigment is a mixture of clay and titanium dioxide, wherein said binder comprises both polyethylene and an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, and wherein said pigment to binder ratio is at least about 1.5: 1.

6. Coated paper of claim 1 wherein the paper, not including the coating, weighs 30-75 grams/M 7. Coated paper of claim 6 wherein said paper is an uncoated ground wood paper and wherein the total coating weight is less than 15 grams/M 8. Coated papaer of claim 7 which is coated on both sides and is a publication grade paper.

9. Coated paper of claim 7 which is coated on only one side with said coating composition and which is a label grade paper.

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENTNO. I 3,911,191

DATED October 7, 1975 INVENTOR(S) Samuel L. Guastella and Jerry J. Larrivee, Jr.

It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

In column 2, line 4, for "50percent" read 50 perCent--.

In column line 43 for "a web" read a moving web.

In column line 23, for "inductrial" read industrial. In column line 53, for "exmple" read example.

In column line 1, for "meaters" read meters-.

In column line 25, for "inductrial" read industrial. In column line 32, for "parctice" read -practice--.

In column line 62, for "polythylene" read polyethylene. In column line 34, for "CNA 250) read (NA 250) In column line 23, for (Blvax 310) read (Elvax 310) In column line 56, for "papaer" read -paper-.

Signed and Scaled this Nineteenth Day September 1978 [SEAL] A ttest:

L AN ER RUTH C. MASON DONA D w B N Attesting Ojficer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks 

1. COATED PAPER THAT IS INK-RECEPTIVE AND HAS GOOD PRINTING PROPERTIES WHICH COMPRISES A PAPER WEB WHICH HAS BEEN EXTRUSION COATED WITH A RIGID COATING BLADE ON AT LEAST ONE SIDE WITH A MOLTEN HOT MELT COATING COMPOSITION, SAID MOLTEN HOT MELT COATING COMPOSITION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF AT LEAST 50 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF A COATING PIGMENT OR MIXTURE OF COATING PIGMENTS DISPERSED IN A DILUENT-FREE, HEAT EXTRUDABLE BINDER OR MIXTURE OF BINDERS, SAID HEAT EXTRUDABLE BINDER HAVING AN ASTM MELT INDEX OF ABOUT 30-400, SAID MOLTEN HOT MELT COATING COMPOSITION HAVING A TOTAL COATING WEIGHT OF 3-15 GRAMS PER SQUARE METER OF SAID PAPER WEB.
 2. Coated paper of claim 1 in which said pigment is selected from the group consisting of clay and titanium dioxide.
 3. Coated paper of claim 2 wherein said binder comprises a normally solid polymer or copolymer of ethylene.
 4. Coated paper of claim 3 in which both sides of the paper have been coated with said coating composition.
 5. Coated paper of claim 1 wherein said pigment is a mixture of clay and titanium dioxide, wherein said binder comprises both polyethylene and an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer, and wherein said pigment to binder ratio is at least about 1.5:1.
 6. Coated paper of claim 1 wherein the paper, not including the coating, weighs 30-75 grams/M2.
 7. Coated paper of claim 6 wherein said paper is an uncoated ground wood paper and wherein the total coating weight is less than 15 grams/M2.
 8. Coated papaer of claim 7 which is coated on both sides and is a publication grade paper.
 9. Coated paper of claim 7 which is coated on only one side with said coating composition and which is a label grade paper. 